Congratulations to the YIP’s for a great NT Insurance Conference
In 2011, it was pointed out that the insurance industry in the Northern Territory was really struggling with professional development for members of the profession in the Top End.
Luke Harris, then of TIO (now MGA NT), and I developed a plan to create a not for profit conference to be held in Darwin which would allow the insurance community to attend a local event, at no cost to them, rather than the huge investment in time and money to travel interstate. The then CEO of TIO, Richard Harding, (now the CEO of icare) immediately came on board.
The First Northern Territory Insurance Conference was held in August 2012 and from memory 173 delegates attended. Peter O’Brien, Erik Kroon, Steve Manning and I all spoke, and as a result of the success of the conference, it was agreed it would become an annual event. I am proud to say that LMI have supported the conference every year, with Steve and I both delivering a session at the conference.
Last week was the 11th annual Northern Territory Insurance Conference, and it was wonderful to see how the conference has grown. I did not get to hear the number of conference attendees but did learn that 350 attended the gala dinner for the Norther Territory Insurance Awards.
The organising of the conference has been passed over to the Northern Territory chapter of the Young Insurance Professionals, headed by local president, Travis Saxby of TIO, and I cannot compliment the committee enough: they did an amazing job. The conference attracted 30 sponsors which meant that those that attended the learning and development sessions, did so at no cost to them or their employer. Something that I believe is unique in Australia.
Well done to the conference team at Mojo Collective. Another first rate conference to your credit.
Before the award ceremony kicked off, I was asked by the committee and the talented MC Nathan Strempel to deliver a tribute to WA barrister Greg Pynt who has been a speaker at the conference every year since its inception. Sadly we lost Greg a month back, and it was heart warming to see his contribution to the past success of the conference acknowledged.
There were a number of categories in the award section before the party began and I list the deserved winners below:
Stewart Cox Memorial Award: Karl Tester – Northern Territory Insurance Brokers
Broker Professional of the Year: Alana Brown – MGA Darwin
Customer Service Professional of the Year: Ashleigh Taylor – TIO MAC
BDM/Underwriting Professional of the Year: John Carey – GT Insurance
Claims Professional of the Year: Gemma Kearney – Allianz Australia
Service Provider of the Year: Jenny Jubb – Rehab Services Australia by Altius Group
Young Professional of the Year: Sophie Mirkhan Ariffin – TIO MAC
Again well done to everyone involved. It was an extremely well run conference with excellent informative speakers and ending with a wonderful gala dinner.